Halocercus lagenorhynchi infection in a stranded striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833) on the Southwest coastline of India

Pathissery John Sarlin; Sancia Morris; Siby Bhasi Geethambika; Lijin Gopi; Megha Muraleedharan; Jeniffer Ann Thomas; Gayathry Savitha; Polycarp Joseph

doi:10.1007/s12639-024-01646-6

Halocercus lagenorhynchi infection in a stranded striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833) on the Southwest coastline of India

J Parasit Dis. 2024 Mar;48(1):168-179. doi: 10.1007/s12639-024-01646-6. Epub 2024 Jan 23.

Authors

Pathissery John Sarlin¹, Sancia Morris², Siby Bhasi Geethambika³, Lijin Gopi⁴, Megha Muraleedharan¹, Jeniffer Ann Thomas¹, Gayathry Savitha¹, Polycarp Joseph⁵

Affiliations

¹ PG and Research Department of Zoology, Fatima Mata National College (Autonomous), University of Kerala, Kollam, India.
² Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, IOC Bhuvneshwar Odisha, Bhubaneswar, India.
³ Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, Kollam, India.
⁴ School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
⁵ Kollam Birding Battalion, Kollam, Kerala India.

PMID: 38440750
PMCID: PMC10908710 (available on 2025-03-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s12639-024-01646-6

Abstract

Necropsy on a striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba (Meyen, 1833) entangled in ghost fishing net and dead while rescuing yielded some helminth parasites, later identified as Halocercus lagenorhynchi. DNA barcoding of the host and parasite and the phylogenetic analysis of the parasite was conducted. This study provides valuable information towards establishing basal data of marine mammal parasite diversity and distribution in the Indian waters. We believe this is the first report of the occurrence of Halocercus lagenorhynchi in marine mammals in India.

Keywords: Halocercus; Lungworm; Marine mammal; Metastrongyle; Molecular identification; Parasite.